II + 

My House + 

An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower, + 

A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall, + 

An acre of stony ground, + 

Where the symbolic rose can break in flower, + 

Old ragged elms, old thorns innumerable, + 

The sound of the rain or sound + 

Of every wind that blows; + 

The stilted water-hen + 

Crossing stream again + 

Scared by the splashing of a dozen cows; + 

A winding stair, a chamber arched with stone, + 

A grey stone fireplace with an open hearth, + 

A candle and written page. + 

“Il Penseroso”’s Platonist toiled on + 

In some like chamber, shadowing forth + 

How the daemonic rage + 

Imagined everything. + 

Benighted travellers + 

From markets and from fairs + 

Have seen his midnight candle glimmering. + 

Two men have founded here. A man-at-arms + 

Gathered a score of horse and spent his days + 

In this tumultuous spot, + 

Where through long wars and sudden night alarms + 

His dwindling score and he seemed cast-a-ways + 

Forgetting and forgot; + 

And I, that after me + 

My bodily heirs may find, + 

To exalt a lonely mind, + 

Befitting emblems of adversity. + 